THIS is the moment an osprey nest at Llyn Brenig was felled by a chainsaw-wielding vandal. 

North Wales Police's Rural Crime team has released the disturbing footage as part of its appeal to help identify the perpetrators of the incident - which occurred at 9.42pm on Friday at the reservoir on the Denbighshire-Conwy border. 

Rob Taylor, manager of the Rural Crime team, said: "Ospreys are a very rare, highly protected bird and are very iconic in Wales. 

"Until a few years ago we literally only had one breeding pair, and now we have a handful and this is one of them.

"The first egg had been laid yesterday and at 9.45pm last night someone decides to go up there with a chainsaw and cut through the [nesting] platform.

"The whole team is absolutely devastated by it and I'm sure the whole community are as well.

"I just can't understand why anybody could go and do something like that."

He said that his team are "pulling all the stops out" to apprehend those responsible. 

"They will receive the full force of the law if we do catch them," he added. 

"Wildlife crimes always have a motive and we believe the person who did this had a strong motive to rid the area of ospreys and particularly the lake."

Naturalist and television presenter, Iolo Williams, took to Twitter to describe the incident as "unbelievable" and branded those responsible as "morons".

The Rural Crime team said that based on initial enquiries, it is believed the offenders arrived at the location by boat. 

Anyone with information relation to this incident is urged to contact North Wales Police on 101 quoting reference number 2059734.

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